Future Of Agriculture

I would love your feedback about the show: what should I start/stop/continue? Email: tim@aggrad.comSchedule a quick call: https://www.calendly.com/hammerich/foaOr DM me on LinkedIn or X (Twitter) Otherwise, see you in July!

Subscribe to Agriscience Explained: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qvFYYLq1dZM1KUiN6nz6H?si=6a6dd6193eea47a1Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agriscience-explained/id1789150766Web: https://www.corteva.com/our-impact/innovation/agriscience-explained.htmlOver the past eight years, I have learned so much from this podcast and it’s opened up a lot of cool opportunities. Some of those opportunities have been to help others launch their own shows. In fact a big part of my consulting work is helping commodity groups and companies reach agricultural audiences through digital communication like podcasts. What you’re about to hear is an episode from one of those projects. Earlier this year, I helped Corteva Agriscience launch a new show called Agriscience Explained. Each episode includes voices from a scientist and a farmer to understand how innovations are developed and where they fit into a modern farm business. I’ve really enjoyed working with Corteva on this, and we’ve already posted 1

The Modern Acre PodcastAgListPolaris Energy ServicesNuss FarmsFor today’s episode, I sit down with Tim and Tyler Nuss. Some of you may recognize their voices from their podcast, The Modern Acre. After growing up on the family farm and finding out in adulthood that they both were really interested in business, they started brainstorming ideas of how they could build something in the ag industry. Tyler said they were big fans of the real estate media brand “Bigger Pockets” which had a podcast and built a community and several adjacent businesses around it. They set out to do something similar in agriculture, and in their own way they have. I wanted to bring them onto the show because in the past year, Tyler announced he would be assuming the role of CEO for Polaris Energy Services and they both launched what they’re calling the Yelp for agriculture which is called AgList. So they wear a lot of hats between these businesses, the podcast, and the farm. 

"Tractor Wars" by Neil Dahlstrom: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1953295746/Software is Feeding the World (Rhishi's newsletter): https://www.rhishipethe.com/sftw[History of Agriculture] Cyrus McCormick And The Birth Of Mechanical Harvesting It's impossible to picture the modern food system we have today without the invention of the tractor. And it happened really not that long ago, just over a hundred years ago.Today we're gonna be talking about this book, "Tractor Wars" by Neil Dahlstrom. Neil is the manager of archives and history at John Deere and tackling this book with me is my good friend and repeat host on the podcast, Rhishi Pethe.An excerpt from the epilogue of "Tractor Wars: John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester and the Birth of Modern Agriculture": " Fortune magazine called the 1920s the decade of the Fordson. Not everyone agreed, but the fact that the Fordson accelerated adoption of the farm tractor and forever altered the competitive landscape is undeniable. Ford was right about the insatiab

The Almond Doctor: https://www.thealmonddoctor.com/David's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheAlmondDoctorFoA 249: A Global Perspective on Tree Nuts with The Almond DoctorDavid Doll was raised in a rural area growing apples and peaches. After attending Purdue University for his B.S. in Plant Biology, he attended graduate school at UC Davis, completing his M.S. in Plant Pathology. Shortly after completion, he started to work as a Farm Advisor the University of California.After ten years of working as a Farm Advisor, David moved to Portugal in November 2018 to work as the lead developer for Rota Unica Almonds. His task is to develop California styled almond plantations within Alentejo. Through this process, he has become familiar with some of the various challenges associated with growing almonds in Portugal and Europe.Prior to his move, David worked with farmers in the Central Valley of California in troubleshooting problems and conducting on farm research within almonds, walnuts and pistachios. In this posit

AgriCorps: http://www.agricorps.org/Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education: http://www.sbae.org/4-H Liberia: https://4hliberia.wordpress.com/Trent McKnight's TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2pPO29DaYsToday’s episode is going to open a lot of eyes I think. We tend to think of youth programs like 4-H and FFA as great things for the kids to be doing. Very few recognize them for the power they have to not only develop young agricultural leaders but also as tools for spreading ideas and technologies. That’s what today’s episode is about, and it’s a personal one for me. I grew up in 4-H and FFA and both organizations had a profound impact on my life and my worldview. Then in 2012 I joined a team led by today’s guest, Trent McKnight, and spent several weeks in the country of Liberia interviewing farmers about food insecurity and farming practices. That experience also left a permanent impression on my life. So I’ve known Trent for about 25 years now and have had a chance to work with

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesFollow Chris on X: https://x.com/pettyranch Today's episode features 5th generation farmer Chris Sayer of Petty Ranch. Chris grows avocados in Ventura County, which is just northwest of the Los Angeles area. And there are several unique aspects to Chris’ story. First, he grows avocados, which is awesome, and I wanted to find out how he stays competitive with so many avocados coming from Mexico these days. Also he grows them in a very populated area, so there are a ton of considerations there from urban sprawl to water management to theft. I also wanted to ask Chris about soil health. I knew from talking to him previously that he grows cover crops and really thinks deeply about soil and water conservation, so we dive deeper into that as well. Chris grew up on the farm but left to attend Northwestern University where he majored in Political Science and joined the Navy ROTC. That led to fl

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates[Spotlight] Integrating Tech and Iron With Chris Dempsey of CNH[Spotlight] How Case IH Turns Customer Insights Into Farm EquipmentWhere Tech Meets Tractor With Joe Miller of CNHStrategic Investing in Ag Technologies With Michele Lombardi of CNH VenturesAs part of this quarter’s sponsorship, Case IH has given me access to some of their key people to learn more about what goes into developing the tractors and equipment that farmers use every day. This is our third and final installment of that series, so if you haven’t already listened to the first two with Dan Klein and Chris Dempsey, I highly recommend you go do that after listening to this spotlight. Today’s interview features Scott Harris, who at the time of this interview was the Brand President at Case IH. In the time since the interview took place, it was announced that Scott took on the role of president of CNH North America, so congra

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesCNH Ventures: https://www.cnh.com/en-US/Our-Company/VenturesToday's episode features Michele Lombardi. Michele is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at CNH and the Head of CNH Ventures. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Company’s long-term business strategies and in-house capabilities, tied to inorganic growth. Through this work, he holds Board positions in several of the independent technology companies in which CNH has invested, such as Monarch Tractor, Stout Industrial Technology and Zasso.Michele and I talk about how he’s thinking about the future of agricultural technology, some wins and lessons from his experiences in this industry, what it means to be a strategic investor, and how he handles the convergence of startups and the large established brands he represents at CNH. Michele joined CNH in 2008. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Gl

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesTwisted River Farm: https://www.twistedriverfarm.com/Follow Steve on X: https://x.com/TRFyeomanfarmerSteve Strasheim of Twisted River Farm. I’ve followed Steve on X for a long time now, and I’ve been really looking forward to getting him on the show for a few reasons. He focuses on a totally different model for farming that is radically different from the commodity mindset. Instead of economies of scale being the priority, his top priority is connection to his customers. Because of that he’s able to build his business without the two biggest barriers for most farmers: access to a lot of land and a lot of capital. It’s more the bootstrapped version of getting started in farming. And I’ve seen this market garden model work. There are well-known YouTubers like Curtis Stone in Canada that have inspired countless others to pursue this version of farming on small sections of other people’s la

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesMcCain's Farms of the FutureHot Potato PodcastToday’s episode features Dr. Michelle D’Souza. Michelle is the Manager of Research and Innovation for McCain’s Farm of the Future Project. In this role, her mission is to empower McCain on its journey to developing sustainable corporate frameworks that benefit society and nature through regenerative agriculture.Some of you may know that McCain has set some ambitious goals for transitioning their potato supply chain to regenerative agriculture. Over the years they have been willing to lead in their commitments and also back those commitments up with incentives and support for farmers trying to adopt regenerative practices. As such, they have hired scientists like Michelle. Dr. Michelle D’Souza is a molecular ecologist whose work focuses on biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization. So first and foremost, she is a

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesSubscribe to Janette Barnard's Prime Future Newsletter: https://primefuture.substack.com/Connect with Ian Lahiffe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-lahiffe-25165b1a/ If you had to make a shortlist of the key drivers of the global agricultural commodity trade over the past 30 years, one of the top drivers would most certainly be China. " The Chinese livestock industry and how Chinese consumers choose their protein has a direct impact on global agriculture. China's obviously the world's largest importer of dairy, largest importer of beef, largest importer of soy, largest importer of corn." - Ian LahiffeIan Lahiffe has been living and working in China for nearly 14 years. He joins Janette Barnard on today’s episode to help us better understand the Chinese market, and even more importantly, unpack some important changes that impact global agriculture.  "There's two trends that I

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesToday’s special episode is what I like to call a spotlight. Instead of our normal format of a 40 minute long form interview, it’s just a short peak into something interesting. The topics for these spotlights are determined in collaboration with our quarterly presenting sponsor, which this quarter is Case IH. If you listened to our last spotlight with Dan Klein about a month ago, you already know that this quarter Case IH has given me access to some of their people to learn more about what goes into developing the tractors and equipment that farmers use every day. These spotlight segments are usually farmers, and it just so happens that’s also the case here, Chris Dempsey, like Dan Klein is not only a Case IH employee, but a farmer himself. Today’s episode builds upon what Dan shared about how Case IH stays systematically customer-focused through their Customer Driven Product Design. Chris is

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesDownload the Agtech Alchemy Quarterly: https://agtechalchemy.substack.com/p/agtech-alchemy-quarterly-winter2025GenAI Whitepaper: https://www.rhishipethe.com/genai-in-agToday's episode features the founding members of Agtech Alchemy. This format is a little different from our normal show. It’s a lot less formal, you’ll hear some jokes and laughter, but really it’s just four guys who all really care about agtech and its ability to improve agriculture in the future. If you’ve been around agtech circles for very long, especially if you’re on LinkedIn, you know all three of our guests today: Walt Duflock is the vice president of Innovation at Western Growers, which represents family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. Sachi Desai is with Bayer Crop Science. He has over 20 years of experience in AI and machine learning research, development and appli

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesJ.R. Simplot: A billion the hard way by Louie AtteberySimplot company website“During World War II, Jack Simplot’s plants produced thirty-three million pounds of dehydrated potatoes and five million pounds of dehydrated onion to fuel America’s fighting men and women. In the 1960s, he helped McDonald’s chief Ray Kroc turn the french fry into a national staple. In the 1980s, the Idaho farm boy with the eighth grade education played a major role in making the personal computer a household word. And as a new century begins, the company and the man show little sign of resting on the laurels.”That is from the book J.R. Simplot: A Billion the Hard Way by Louie Attebery which tells the incredible life story of J.R. Simplot, more commonly known as Jack Simplot. Today Simplot is a household name for those of us in agribusiness. The diversified global company has business interests in farming, ranching

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesOcean Mist Farms: https://www.oceanmist.com/Today’s episode features Mark Munger of Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, California in the Salinas Valley. Mark shares a story that I think is very relevant to a lot of agriculture production today, all over the world. Although they’ve grown a great business to produce consistent, high quality, affordable, safe, nutritious commodities, they still face challenges. Rising costs, regulations, competition, and consumers whose expectations for convenience have gone up dramatically. These headwinds have propelled the company in the direction of innovation, and Mark is going to share that with us today. For background, Mark Munger is the director of marketing at Ocean Mist Farms, where he has been for the last 2 ½ years. But Mark is definitely not new to the industry - he has worked in fresh produce for almost 40 years, including positions at the Pro

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesHello fellow ag nerds. Today’s special episode is what I like to call a spotlight. Instead of our normal format of a 40 minute long form interview, it’s just a short peak into something interesting. The topics for these spotlights are determined in collaboration with our quarterly presenting sponsor, which this quarter is Case IH. Dan Klein is the Customer Insights Lead at Case IH and CNH. Dan grew up on a farm in Southwest Wisconsin, where he stays actively involved, working with his brother on the family farm. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in Engineering Management, which have supported his 17-year career at CNH. What I wanted to know from Dan is how a company of their size is incorporating feedback from customers into the design of their machinery. They have a “built by farmers” promise, but how are they actually executing on that? Br

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesAgricultural Economic Insights: https://aei.ag/Today's episode features David Widmar of Agricultural Economic Insights. David first appeared on the show a year ago on episode 399, which ended up being one of my most listened-to episodes of the year. Today, we discuss the current state of the ag economy, the margin squeeze that farmers are facing and where that places us on the economic cycle that commodities tend to follow. We also talk about some key ideas and mental models that David has written about for how to manage risk during this challenging time for the industry. As background, David Widmar is an agricultural economist specializing in ag trends and the farm economy. Through his research, he supports agribusinesses and farmers in their strategic and planning efforts. David’s current work can be found at Agricultural Economic Insights, aei.ag, which he co-founded with Dr. Brent G

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesMach: https://www.mach.io/Today’s episode features Colin Hurd who is the CEO of Mach. Colin first appeared on this show back on episode 180 in November of 2019. At that time he had just sold his previous company, Smart Ag, to Raven Industries. Colin continued working for Raven Industries until 2022, when he left and eventually helped to bring together a partnership merger to form Mach. Mach works with Original Equipment Manufacturers (otherwise known as OEMs). These are all of the companies that manufacture equipment, in our context farm equipment. Mach helps these OEMs that want to incorporate autonomy into their products. This again is part of an insight I had at the FIRA USA show, which is that there is a whole emerging industry of companies that exist to service the robotics and automation companies so that they can bring their solutions to farmers. Mach is one of those companies.&n

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstatesJanette Barnard's Prime Future Newsletter: https://primefuture.substack.com/Future of Agriculture YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FutureOfAgDr. G. Kee Jim is the founding partner of Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd. (FHMS). Dr. Jim’s cattle feeding companies (G.K. Jim Farms, Cattlinc Inc, Silverado Cattle Inc, Taweel Cattle Company Ltd, Korova Feeders Ltd, Diamond Feeders, Quality Beef Producers LP, CanTex Feeders LP, Tierra Blanca Cattle Feeders LP, and Ordway Cattle Feeders LP) are major players in the Canadian and United States cattle industries through ownership of cows, backgrounding cattle, grass cattle, feedlot cattle, and feedlots. In addition, Kee has served on the board of directors of several beef industry groups and as an Adjunct Professor in the Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and VERO at Texas A&M University.Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH des